BILL NUMBER: SCR 25	CHAPTERED  07/23/99

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   72
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JULY 23, 1999
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   JULY 15, 1999
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   JULY 12, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 29, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 25, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 14, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 6, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Morrow
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Ackerman and Bates)

                        MARCH 8, 1999

   Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25--Relative to the Gunnery
Sergeant John Basilone Memorial Freeway.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 25, Morrow.  Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone Memorial Freeway.
   This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 5
the "Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone Memorial Freeway."  The measure
also would request the Department of Transportation to determine the
cost for appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon
receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to
erect those signs.




   WHEREAS, Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone was born in 1916 in
Buffalo, New York, son of Salvatore and Dora Basilone, one of 10
children; and
   WHEREAS, John Basilone was raised and educated in Raritan, New
Jersey; and
   WHEREAS, At the age of 18, in 1934, John Basilone enlisted in the
United States Army, principally seeing garrison service in the
Philippines; and
   WHEREAS, While stationed in Manila, Sergeant Basilone was a Golden
Gloves light-heavyweight boxing champion and, while there, he met
the great love of his life, the .30-caliber machine gun; and
   WHEREAS, After his honorable discharge in 1937, Sergeant Basilone,
known by his comrades as "Manila John," returned to Raritan; and
   WHEREAS, He saw the storm clouds of war hovering over the nation,
and believing his place was with the fighting forces, he enlisted in
the United States Marine Corps in July 1940; and
   WHEREAS, On October 24 and 25, 1942, on Guadalcanal, Solomon
Islands, Sergeant Basilone was a member of "C" Company, 1st
Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, one of "Chesty" Puller'
s Battalions, and was in charge of two sections of heavy machine guns
defending a narrow pass that led to Henderson Airfield; and
   WHEREAS, Although Sergeant Basilone and his machine gunners were
vastly outnumbered without available reinforcements, Sergeant
Basilone and his fellow Marines fought valiantly to check the savage
and determined assault by the Japanese Imperial Army; and
   WHEREAS, In a fierce frontal attack with the enemy blasting his
division with grenades and mortar fire, one of Sergeant Basilone's
sections, with its gun crews, was put out of action, leaving only two
men to carry on, Sergeant Basilone moved an extra gun into position
and, under continual fire, repaired another gun and personally manned
it; and
   WHEREAS, A short time later, with the ammunition critically low
and supply lines cut off, Sergeant Basilone, at great risk to his
life and in the face of continued enemy attack, battled his way
through hostile lines with urgently needed shells for his gunners;
and
   WHEREAS, Hour after hour Sergeant Basilone and his remaining men
battled the Japanese forces, and at one point he was forced to use
his revolver to shoot down enemy soldiers who had reached his trench;
and
   WHEREAS, By the time reinforcements arrived, the enemy had been
stopped; and
   WHEREAS, Sergeant Basilone's small force had contributed in large
measure to the virtual annihilation of an enemy regiment; and
   WHEREAS, For this action, Sergeant Basilone was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor and sent home a hero; and
   WHEREAS, John Basilone married his sweetheart, Lena Mae Riggi,
who, with love and devotion, encouraged her husband of one month to
follow his heart; and
   WHEREAS, In December 1944, Sergeant Basilone's restlessness to
rejoin his fellow Marines who were fighting the bloody
island-to-island battles in route to the Philippines and Japan
prompted him to again volunteer for combat; and
   WHEREAS, On Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945, Sergeant Basilone again
distinguished himself, single-handedly destroying an enemy blockhouse
while braving a smashing bombardment of enemy heavy caliber fire,
putting the blockhouse out of commission; and
   WHEREAS, Minutes later an artillery shell killed Sergeant Basilone
and four of his platoon members; and
   WHEREAS, He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and Purple
Heart, and a life-sized bronze statue stands in Raritan, New Jersey
where "Manila John" is clad in battle dress and cradles in his arms a
machine gun; and
   WHEREAS, In 1949 the United States Government commissioned a
destroyer U.S.S. Basilone, and in November 1951, Governor Alfred E.
Driscoll posthumously awarded Sergeant Basilone the State of New
Jersey's highest decoration; and
   WHEREAS, Following World War II, Sergeant Basilone's remains were
reinterred in the Arlington National Cemetery; and
   WHEREAS, Sergeant Basilone was the first recipient of the
Congressional Medal of Honor awarded in World War II; and
   WHEREAS, Sergeant Basilone was also awarded the Navy Cross and the
Purple Heart, giving him the distinction of being the only enlisted
Marine in World War II to receive all three medals; now, therefore,
be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
17-mile portion of Interstate 5 between the Basilone Road exit at the
north and the main gate of Camp Pendleton at the south, the "Gunnery
Sergeant John Basilone Memorial Freeway," in honor and in
recognition of John Basilone; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate plaques and markers, consistent
with the signing requirements for the state highway system, showing
this special designation, and indicating that Sergeant Basilone was a
United States Marine, and upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources covering that cost, to erect those plaques and markers; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for
distribution.
